RDC-6 oks P219M Negros airport expansion

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — The proposed expansion of the Bacolod-Silay Airport in Negros Occidental, amounting to P219 million, was approved by the Regional Development Council—Western Visayas in a meeting over the weekend.

Silay City Mayor Jose Montelibano Jr. confirmed that RDC-6 approved and endorsed to the DOTC for funding the proposed expansion of the airport costing P194.4 million, and runway extension at P25 million. The expansion will start in the first quarter of 2013, he said adding that President Benigno Aquino III had also approved this earlier.

The Silay City Council, the Provincial Development Council and the Negros Occidental Provincial Board earlier endorsed the project, based on the recommendation of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

The RDC-6’s infrastructure development committee, chaired by Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, said in a resolution that the Bacolod-Silay airport, based on CAAP records, is now the 6th busiest airport nationwide, in terms of passenger movement, and 5th in cargo movement.

CAAP records also show that this airport, which started commercial operation in January 2008, exceeded its project study projections in 2007 for passenger by nine percent, number of flights by 40 percent, and cargo by 18 percent.

Currently, the airport caters to 19 flights a day, Montelibano said, and with the expansion, more flights including international routes are expected. He added that the 500-meter extension of the runway will allow the landing of larger aircrafts.

The RDC-6 resolution further said the expansion, to address the growing passenger congestion, would expand the passenger terminal building by 6,480 square meters for bigger check-in, arrival and pre-departure areas, and more baggage handling system and boarding bridges.

Meanwhile, the construction of the 10-kilometer access road to the Bacolod-Silay airport, which has a budget of P404 million, is now underway. — THE FREEMAN